Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-26

| without manifesting the least concern. He
| never spoke, but he glared and smiled hide
ously and sometimes broke out into the most
CALLING of derisive laughter, while the expires
sion of the cutthroat never left his face
@At last my friends agreed upon plan,
and it was practically the carry-the-man-
away-and-lose-him plan They decided to
bundle up the shapeless and almost homeless
freebooter-for they had been compelled to
remove SO many pieces of bone out of him
that what were left it was hardly worth while
taking account of-and take him to come out
Of the way village, set him down in a
street or lane after dark, and then run away
and leave him. They carted their charge
away the next night, and I babe them good
by, as l intended to resume my travels next
day, and | saw them nc more.
For months Travelled through that sunny
land, north, south, east, and west My quest
of mines seemed too sordid a thing to infiu-
ence my goings and my conings, so aban-
doned it, and turned my steps toward the vol
canic region of Popocatapetl. In my course
lay the charming village of Topeji I ar
rived there one glorious afternoon in October
I found the little place in great state of ex-
element. Any why not? Juanita the love
lest maiden of Topeji, the betrothed of Go
mez Tejada, the richest and most popular
young citizen of the village, had disappeared,
and no trace of her could be found. More
than that, l learned that during the past
six months many citizens Of Topeji, having
left home on journeys over the road to Popo-
catepetl, had never been heard Of more And
yet no villagers were more pious or more lib
eral in their contributions to tbs church. The
poor never had more willing friends than the
good people Of Topeji, as the crippled beggar
Lopez, who sat all day long by the roadside
beyond the village, would gladly testify, they
said
II became acquainted with Gomez Teia1a
at once and tried to comfort him, but in vain,
and late on the next afternoon, after arriving
in Topeji, I started on my journey toward
Popocatapetl, glad to escape from so much
grief. As passed the boundaries Of the vii
lage 1 saw a miserable figure crouching by
the roadside. 'Ah? thought 1, the crippled
beggar Lopez, doubtless and prepared to
give him aims. was astride my mule, and
as approached the beggar alighted 10 have
a slight talk with him as / dropped my mite
into his outstretched, withered hand His
face was nlufIied, and | stopped low to place
the coin in his hand As | stopped | saw
movement of his other hand, and a fash in
the light Of the descending sun. 1t was the
fash of a bright bladed knife, which in
another instant would have sunk to the hilt
in my throat. | seized the beggal's arm
The muf11ed cloth fell from his face, and
there, great heavens! was revealed the VII
famous, Ulurderous countenance CT Luigui le
Tampasa, the terror, my friends had saved
from the deadi There was no nlistaking the
face. There was no mistaking the great
golden hoops in his ear. He struggled, but
it was useless. l pinioned him in my arms
and bore him back 10 the village. We dis
covered curious horn whistle hanging by
leather string at his side. Al once this sug-
gested to me that this was call to summon
others in league with him. / soon explained
to Gomez and others. A dozen ready friends
Of Gomez, led by ME, secreted themselves near
where l had found the beggar. They were all
well armed. AT q signal the whistle was
blown. In en- instant half a dozen men arose
few rods away, as if from the depths OF the
earth, and hurried toward where we were
hidden. Il was growing dark. WecaptureG
them ali, and villainous looking vggabonds
they were l led to the spot where the mer
had appeared SO suddenly. Hunting around
in the bushes, ! found On opening in the
ground. Followed by part Of my force, the
rest being left to secure our captives, en-
tered the opening. Gomez was by my side.
We followed long tunnel, which finally
opened into large chamber, in which dim
light was burning. We soon were able to see
to all parts of the chamber. In one corner
was O figure crouching in terror We ap-
preached it. 1t arose with shrek and drew |
further away. The next instant Gomez |
sprang forward, and l heard him cry, 'Ju- |
anitap 1t was the missing maiden Of Topeji |
at is hardly necessary for me to say that |
Topeji had happened to be tho place where |
the doctors had dropped Luigui le Tampasa,
or what was left of him. By some means he
had gathered some Of his former band around |
him. and as Lopez, the beggar, he had start |
ed in Oh a new scheme Of murder and plum
der. We found in this cave the graves of |
twenty victims of this crippled iend. Juanita |
had been captured on a signal from Luigui !
while she was giving bin aims. The vii |
layers took the crippled demon and his cap
tured band out Of the village that same |
night. The villagers came back l never |
heard what became Of those they had escort
ed away. Gomez and Juanita were married, |
and stayed to the wedding The golden |
hoops had taxed from Luigui's ears, and they |
were my wedding gift to the bride. She
clasped them about her arms as bracelets
New York Sun.